Sampler for dyeing machines



Dec. 10, 1957 w, A DAwEs TAL 2,815,664

-SAMPLER FOR DYEINGMACHINES Filed Nov. 1s, 1954 2 sheets-sheet 1 Dec. 10, 1957 Filed NOV. 18, 1954 w. A. DAwEs ETAL SAMPLER Foa DYEINGY MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [f4 g f f5" iw @un @In United States Patent SAMPLER FOR DYEING MACHINES William Alfred Dawes and Walter Henry Copley, Salford, England, assignors to Sir James Farmer Norton & Company Limited, Salford, England, a British com- Pally Application November 18, 1954, Serial No. 469,704

5 Claims. (Cl. 73-423) This invention has for its object to provide means for obtaining samples of fabric which is undergoing processing in a closed pressure vessel, Without opening the vessel or unnecessarily reducing the pressure.

According to the invention, there is mounted in the Wall of the pressure vessel a tting having a slidable tubular member adapted at its inner end to cut samples out of the fabric and a tube with valve means outside the vessel to enable samples to be ejected by the pressure in the vessel or by either pneumatic hydraulic means.

The cutting member may be a tube having its inner end serrated or sharpened or may be in the form of an electrically heated element to enable it to cut the cloth, which may be supported by its tension or by a pad behind it or may be held in contact with the cutter by a jet of steam, air or water. The tube may be slidable in a bush ixed in the vessel wall and may also be rotatable to facilitate cutting. It may slide over a xed tube which projects into the vessel inside the cutting tube, and is suitably supported outside or inside the vessel.

The cutter may be actuated manually, electrically, hydraulically or pneumatically in both the longitudinal and axial directions, e. g. by a piston sliding in a cylinder outside the pressure vessel, to which compressed air or steam can be admitted.

Provision may be made for the sample to be withdrawn by an apparatus, inserted inside the tube to engage with the sample to be cut.

The pressure vessel may have inspectionv windows which enable the fabric to be seen to ensure that samples are cut from appropriate places, usually at the joint between the two pieces.

Referring to the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 shows an alternative sample cutter.

Figure 3 shows the arrangement of an electrically heated cutter element.

In Figure l, a length of cloth 1 is being treated with liquid in a beck 2 enclosed in a kier 3 in which there is air r steam under pressure. A bush 4 is fixed in the wall of the kier 3 and carries a cylinder 5 outside the kier 3. In the cylinder 5 is a piston 6 attached to a tube 7 passing through the bush 4 and slidable therein. Inside the tube 7 is a Xed tube 8 on which is mounted a ring 9 closing the end of the cylinder 5 and having a duct 10 for supplying steam or compressed air to the cylinder 5. At the end of the sliding tube 7 there is an electrically heated ring 11, and the beck 2 has an opening 12 in its side wall through which the tube 7 can pass to bring the ring 11 into contact with the cloth 1, to cut a sample -therefrom when steam or air is admitted to the cylinder 5 to advance the tube 7. A duct 22 admits air or steam to the other end of the cylinder 5 to retract the tube 7.

Adjoining the end of the lixed tube 8 is a further tube 13 having valves 14 and 15 operated by racks and pinions, the operating means of which are interconnected so that only one valve can be opened at a time. After a sample has been detached from the cloth 1, the valve 14 is opened and the pressure in the kier 3 blows the sample through it into the space 16 between the valves where the pressure is atmospheric until the valve 14 is opened. Then the valve 14 is closed and the valve 15 opened and the sample is blown out through it, the pressure in the space 16 then falling again. There is a drain 17 for condensate from the space 16, which is closed by a valve 18 and has at its inlet a mesh cover 19 to prevent the sample passing through.

Figure 2 shows a sample cutter in the form of a tube 20 with cutting teeth 21, which may be xed on to the end of the tube 7 as an alternative to the electrically heated ring 11 shown in Figure 1. The cloth 1 is under sucient tension to enable a sample to be cut out when the tube 7 is advanced.

Figure 3 shows the arrangement of an electrically heated cutter element. This consists of two substantially semi-circular resistance wire elements 23 connected in parallel to a pair of terminal blocks 24 by welding, the terminal blocks being bolted to the sides of an insulating element carrier 25 arranged to slide into the end of the tubular member 7, leaving a clear passage through the carrier and tubular member for the substantially circular pieces of cloth cut out by the burner. A conducting lug 26 is brazed to each terminal block 24, extending along the side of the tubular member 7 and having at its end a terminal 27 for connection to a flexible cable. The flexible cables lead to terminals on conductors in insulated bushings passing through the wall of the pressure Vessel in bosses welded to the shell. Electric current 'at about 4 to 7 volts is supplied to said conductors by a mains transformer. The element carrier 25 can be held in the end of the tubular member 7 by setscrews, or alternatively may be screwed into the tube end.

What we claim is:

l. Means for obtaining samples of fabric which is undergoing processing in a closed pressure vessel, comprising a tting mounted in the wall of the pressure vessel, an element fastened to the iitting, a tube carried by the said element, valve means in said tube outside the vessel for enabling samples to be ejected under pressure from the vessel, a tubular member slidable over said tube and extending into the vessel, means at the inner end of said member for cutting samples out of the fabric, and means for reciprocating the said member to bring the cutting means into contact with the fabric at a point where it is under tension inside the vessel.

2. Means as claimed in claim l wherein the cutting means is a tube mounted on the tubular member, having its free end cut olf in a plane substantially parallel to that of the fabric to be cut, and having its edge serrated to facilitate cutting the fabric.

3. Means as claimed in claim l wherein the cutting means is an electrically heated element arranged at the end of the tubular member substantially parallel to the portion of fabric which it engages when reciprocated.

4. Means as claimed in claim l, and having a cylinder carried by said tting and enclosing the tubular member outside the pressure Vessel, a piston in the cylinder on the tubular member, and means for admitting uid under pressure to the cylinder for displacing the piston and the tubular member.

5. Means as claimed in claim l, in which the valve means comprise two valves and means for opening the valves one at a time to enable a sample to be ejected.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,665 Ord Jan. 3, 1911 1,191,227 Ramsay July 18, 1916 1,966,712 Fisher et al. July 17, 1934 2,492,158 Le Compte et al. Dec. 27, 1949 

